Mapping the Unmappable: Creating public transit data in the African megacity

[mozfest-bot]

[ ID ] 2f3336aa-8c80-4694-99a7-512a2ff6133c

[ Submitter's Name ] Mohamed Hegazy [ Submitter's Affiliated Organisation ] Transport for Cairo [ Submitter's Twitter ] @momomtaz

[ Space ] science [ Secondary Space ] localisation

[ Format ] learning-lab

Description

Transit Information is stored using the open source GTFS standard, and enables apps such as Citymapper.

Out of 800 cities that have open data on their public transportation in GTFS, only a handful are in the developing World: Nairobi, Mexico City etc. In mapping formal and informal public transportation in Cairo, we quickly encountered the limits of the GTFS standards in capturing the informality of a system where no schedules exist, operators are individuals and the system is more dynamic than the current specifications allows.

In this session we highlight this discrepancy between software standards and reality, how it impacts the real world and the challenges it creates on growing the open internet movement. Participants learn about the complexity of ICT4D using Transit as an example, while sharing they're own stories about software standards that can be improved upon.

Agenda

This interactive generalist workshop presents participants with what we do, what challenges we face and what methodologies we deploy in response.

The first half starts with a hands-on active Wake-up & Introduction activity visualising the complexity of informal public transit in an African megacity such as Cairo, followed by a visual presentation and briefing.

The second half will be a group discussion that engages participants to explore key elements of creating hitherto non-existent open data, share they're own experiences and to reach their own visions for how to address real-world challenges.

Participants

The hands-on active Wake-up & Introduction activity works best with a participant range between 7 and 20, based on past-experience.

The group discussion works best with groups up to 12 participants large, after which I generally split the groups into 2 separate sections. As moderator, I then move freely between the sections, making sure the discussion is moving forward.

Outcome

Informal public transportation dominates Africa leading to chronic congestion and negatively impacting the climate, the environment, and citizens’ health. We hope to highlight this development challenge, and the limitations of existing data structures and software tools to capture the real world’s complexity.

In fact, I was recommended by attendees of this years csvconf in Berlin to apply to Mozfest, as the topic proved fresh for most attendees.

Our mission is to create open data, and we are deeply committed to open-source. We hope to meet and connect with likeminded organisations and people in Europe, and learn how to make our project open source and foster cross-border collaboration in developing updated and more versatile data standards.

[hjbailey]

Really like this!

[Momomtaz]

@hjbailey Glad you do, looking forward to see you in in October and tell you all about it.

[marcwalsh-zz]

Thanks for the submission! Unfortunately this session has not been selected as part of the program for 2016. Please expect an email from us with further information very soon.